Trump’s Third World Leadership (2)
When you look at the margins with which Trump carried the states of Michigan (11, 837 votes), Pennsylvania (68,236 votes) and Wisconsin (27, 257 votes), it leaves enough room for suspicion that something fishy might have really taken place there in his favour. As those in the Third World will continue to ponder, popular votes alone don’t win you presidential election in the United States of America, you have to secure what they call electoral college votes to triumph. The electoral votes are allocated in accordance with the population of every state and if you win the majority votes in that state, then you carry its electoral votes. Hitherto, those three states were the strongholds of the Democratic Party but once Trump flipped them over, he was guaranteed victory. Trump went to those three states repeatedly to campaign; could it be because he was taking a cue from his Russian allies?
Trump’s stance on the IsraeliPalestinian peace settlement is disconcerting; he’s stepping back from the commitment America had hitherto made, to pursue a two-state solution which itself is based on a United Nations resolution. Speaking at a press conference he addressed alongside Mr Benjamin Netanyahu , the Israeli Prime Minister, Mr Trump was quoted as saying: “I’m looking at a two-state and a one-state, and I like the one that both parties like….I can live with either one.” Now this is hypocritical, the question of two-state, one for the Israelis and the other for the Palestinians, has been settled long ago; the only side that wants one state are the Jews and this is no solution at all. The bellicose Netanyahu’s strategy is to steal enough Palestinian land as to render the two-state solution nought. Since his return, Netanyahu has aggressively adopted a settler policy and from the time Trump was elected, the Israeli Prime Minister has approved the construction of 6,000 Jewish homes in West Bank and East Jerusalem, regarded by the Palestinians as their future capital. As for Trump, nothing shows his lack of seriousness and comical approach to solving the problem as his suggestion that Jared Kushner, his ill-informed son-in-law is the man to negotiate peace between the Israelis and the Palestinians; what a frivolous proposal for resolving a combustible issue? The repudiation of the two-state solution as well as the reversal of the Iranian nuclear deal are bound to return the Middle East to a political uncertainty. But this is Trump.
Meanwhile, his National Security Adviser, General Michael Flynn, resigned from office barely 24 days into the new administration. General Flynn came under fire for unauthorised discussions with the Russian Ambassador to America regarding the lifting of sanctions slammed on them by President Obama in the wake of that country’s interference in the US election. The American media is digging hard to establish just how deep the connection between the Trump team and Russia is. Politicians across the aisle are also calling for investigations, they are worried by the danger that Putin and Russia may pose to America considering the strong influence that Putin appears to exercise on Trump. The President’s obsession with improving Russia has alarmed Americans and they regard it as something extraordinary.
Elsewhere, it will appear that President Trump’s repeated promises of creating jobs is dependent on his expulsion of those he thinks are not American enough and shutting others, mostly Muslims, from entering the country. In his weird calculation, if he deports enough immigrants, there will be adequate job openings for his American constituency. Already, he has raised the stakes by howling that he inherited mess from Barack Obama. However, thanks to the first AfricanAmerican President that Trump likes to ridicule, the American economy is doing very well with level of unemployment significantly down to 5% or so.
Trump continues to brand American mainstream media, notably New York Times, CNN and MSNBC as “enemies of America.” The one that he calls great is Fox News which he quoted in his ill-informed and misleading “look at what’s happening last night in Sweden. They took in large numbers. They’re having problems like they never thought possible”, when he addressed a rally of his supporters in Florida. Trump was exaggerating the level of terrorist attacks in Sweden since it admitted immigrants from Iraq, Syria, etc. Thank God, even the Swedes rejected his scaremongering statement and indicated that the statistics didn’t justify Trump’s assertions. In the light of Trump’s reckless statement about his country, the former Swedish Prime Minister, Carl Bildt, was forced to ask mockingly: “What has he (Trump) been smoking?
Trump is said to be the most unpopular of any President in his first 100 days with 43% Americans disapproving of his handling of the job. Since his inauguration, thousands of women have staged demonstrations against him. This past weekend, thousands of Americans demonstrated in Dallas and Los Angeles and 23 other cities across the United States of America. On Monday, 20th February, 2016, being the third Monday of the month usually commemorated as The President’s Day, thousands of Americans are billed to demonstrate under the slogan “Not my President’s Day” and to ask for Trump’s ouster.
America will always have enemies, however, under President Trump; this will not be Russia but Islam and Muslim countries. Many prominent Americans and their allies are afraid that Trump’s anti-Islamic rhetoric may provide a fertile ground for recruitment of extremists that may target not just US citizens but other nationals as well. It is unconscionable of President Trump to seek to make America great by shutting the door against Muslims and other citizens of the world who seek to pursue the American dream. It’s such a shame that the quality of Trump’s leadership promises to be no better than that of tin-pot dictators found across the Third World countries.